Tag: Bangkok

I’m back in Bangkok. Several people have said “You just can’t get enough of that place” or “You need your Bangkok fix every now and then hey”.

Bangkok is my home away from home. My base in Asia. I have friends here. Places I can stay. I know the city reasonably well. I can order food, get around, get online, etc. If I transit through Asia, I typically stop in Bangkok.

To keep the pics flowing, here’s the view from the 17th floor where I’m staying.

I’m heading off now (6:15am!) on a road trip to Jo’burg for a few days. Will be offline most of the time, but back on email briefly next weekend then fully probably on Tuesday or Wednesday from Bangkok.

This morning I learned that Bennett Robinson passed away about a year ago.

I met Bennett on a flight from Singapore to Bangkok, he gave me the push to actually install Linux on my laptop. He was running it himself (a man in his sixties), and convinced me it was easy to make the switch. We kept in touch. There was talk of working together on a few projects, but nothing materialised on that front.

Bennett was a real open source evangelist. His business was built around open source software. He presented it as a genuine business alternative to commercially licensed software. It was inspiring to see a man of such experience so vibrantly engaging with the concept.

I’ll be back in Bangkok in a month, so I dropped Bennett an email. It bounced. I tracked him down online to the American Chamber of Commerce in Thailand. They kindly informed me of his passing. He was skiing in Japan when he suffered a heart attack they said.

Bennett left a wife and young children, my condolences to them. Bennett my friend, rest in peace.

I’m about to jump in the shower for the last time in Bangkok (at least for the foreseeable future) and then it’s off to the airport to begin my long journey home. It’s Monday morning here in Bangkok, I’ll get home on Friday night. Adios Bangkok, it’s been … an adventure!